Ex-Bush ethics official to run for Franken's former Senate seat as Dem: report

Richard Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush’s administration, is expected to announce on Monday he will run as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Al Franken (D-Minn.).

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Sunday that Painter, who has been a frequent critic of President Trump, recently filed paperwork with federal elections officials to run against Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who replaced Franken in January.

Painter launched a campaign website in recent days, and his campaign’s Twitter page identifies him as “running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota.”

Painter is scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday at the state capitol to announce his plans. <snip>

I'm certainly not. This is a solid Blue district, which Republicans have no hope of winning. They know that. This is their favorite tactic: running their candidate as a Democrat, hoping to trick the casual Democratic voter (i.e. the majority of them) into thinking they're voting for a Democrat, when they're actually voting for a Republican.

And those of us who are politically active/informed will now have to work hard to tell all the diehard Democrats in our district that this guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Remember Rush Limbaugh's Project Chaos? That's this. I live in this district and we have to deal with it all the time.

I'm certainly not. This is a solid Blue district, which Republicans have no hope of winning. They know that. This is their favorite tactic: running their candidate as a Democrat, hoping to trick the casual Democratic voter (i.e. the majority of them) into thinking they're voting for a Democrat, when they're actually voting for a Republican.

And those of us who are politically active/informed will now have to work hard to tell all the diehard Democrats in our district that this guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Remember Rush Limbaugh's Project Chaos? That's this. I live in this district and we have to deal with it all the time.

Too, also: the reason this is happening? Because since Democratic officials decided they had to show off their moral purity by throwing Franken to the wolves and forcing him out of office, this seat is now up for play. Tina Smith is Tina Who? as far as the average voter is concerned. If Painter wins the primary then it'll be a Republican Senator regardless of which party wins the election. Painter'll just wait till after he's elected to make it official.

Too, also: the reason this is happening? Because since Democratic officials decided they had to show off their moral purity by throwing Franken to the wolves and forcing him out of office, this seat is now up for play. Tina Smith is Tina Who? as far as the average voter is concerned. If Painter wins the primary then it'll be a Republican Senator regardless of which party wins the election. Painter'll just wait till after he's elected to make it official.

Too, also: the reason this is happening? Because since Democratic officials decided they had to show off their moral purity by throwing Franken to the wolves and forcing him out of office, this seat is now up for play. Tina Smith is Tina Who? as far as the average voter is concerned. If Painter wins the primary then it'll be a Republican Senator regardless of which party wins the election. Painter'll just wait till after he's elected to make it official.

Also Republicans lost their party to the rwnj they were so smitten with in 2010. They have no place to go except for to infiltrate the Democratic party. The truly moderate Republicans all left the party long ago. The ones that were half to three quarters nut job have all announced retirement now. Anyone who is less than 100% nut job from hell will never get a Republican nomination. Republicans lost their party. They played with fire and forget about getting burned, they got incinerated.

"I know that human being and fish can coexist peacefully"
--- George W Bush

I'm certainly not. This is a solid Blue district, which Republicans have no hope of winning. They know that. This is their favorite tactic: running their candidate as a Democrat, hoping to trick the casual Democratic voter (i.e. the majority of them) into thinking they're voting for a Democrat, when they're actually voting for a Republican.

And those of us who are politically active/informed will now have to work hard to tell all the diehard Democrats in our district that this guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Remember Rush Limbaugh's Project Chaos? That's this. I live in this district and we have to deal with it all the time.

I'm not sure that I share your total confidence that a democrat will win that the seat (though I hope I'm just being overly cautious). But I agree with the rest.

The Man Who Was Squarer Than His Own Jaw
Bush Ethics Guy Richard Painter Running For Senate As Democrat Just Why Exactly?

While we certainly appreciate his recognition that the GOP has become the party of scoundrels, blackguards, and ne’er-do-wells, and it’s always good to have a prominent public figure on our side, we have some misgivings. When most people join a new political party, they start off volunteering for a phone bank or door-to-door canvassing effort, not by running for the upper chamber of Congress. And with all respect to Mr. Painter’s intelligence and ethical acumen, we’re not sure we need another celebrity candidate right now, even one whose cable persona is built around being the AntiTrump.

Slate’s Josh Voorhees sums up the Painter Problem pretty well:

Painter may be outpacing the Democratic establishment in calling for Trump to be impeached, but that doesn’t make him liberal. He served as the chief White House ethics lawyer under Bush, clerked for a Ronald Reagan-appointed federal judge, and as recently as last month, described himself as “a centrist in many ways—right up the middle” as he was openly considering whether he should run in the Senate primary on the Republican side. On Monday, he inched leftward, declaring that a woman’s right to have an abortion is “none of the government’s business,” and saying that he’s for increased gun regulations. But he still sounded like a man who would have preferred to keep the R by his name if not for the Republican in the White House.

After the chaos surrounding Franken’s resignation, the DFL went to some lengths to rally around Smith so she’d have a strong start against any Republican challenger. She’s got the endorsement of Rep. Keith Ellison, who had given some thought to challenging Smith himself but decided to back her instead:

“I just decided that nobody’s personal ambition is as important as us retaining that seat,” Ellison said in an interview shortly after Smith’s appointment. “She’s going to get a running start by being appointed by the governor, and all of us are going to gather around her.”

Finally, appointed incumbent Tina Smith is the odds-on favorite to win the DFL nomination in Minnesota’s special election for U.S. Senate, but the candidacy of Richard Painter will give us an interesting data point. Painter is a well-credentialed former Republican (he worked in the George W. Bush White House) who left the party because of Trump. If he gets a sizable number of votes, it could indicate that disgruntled, anti-Trump Republicans could be a newly formidable voting bloc within the Democratic Party, including in the 2020 presidential primaries.